The invention relates to apparatus for cutting an extrudate at the exit of dies of a baking/extrusion system with a rotary cutter wherein a shaft supports a plurality of cutting edges.
It is already known to arrange a cutting apparatus at the exit of an extrusion apparatus, in particular in the field of animal food, in order to obtain dry food pieces having the shape given by the extrusion die. Japanese Patent Document 86 280 260, in the name of KK Ooyama Foods Machinery, relates to an apparatus which is for manufacturing pet food and includes, at the exit of the extrusion die, two rotary knives supported by a shaft whose axis is parallel to the axis of the extruder, one of the knives making it possible to make an incision in the product, and the second allowing the product to be cut fully. The drawback of this apparatus is that the axis of the knife is offset with respect to the axis of the extruder, the result of which is that the blades of the knife rotate through air over a large part of their rotation circumference, which may raise problems of safety (fairing) and adjustment of the blades because the centrifugal force is great. Furthermore, this cutting apparatus can only be used with a single product exit die.